The BEST Guide to POLAND
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Posts by jon357  

Joined: 15 Mar 2012 / Male ♂
Last Post: 1 day ago
Threads: Total: 73 / Live: 22 / Archived: 51
Posts: Total: 24817 / Live: 14772 / Archived: 10045
From: In the Heart of Darkness
Speaks Polish?: Tak

Displayed posts: 14794 / page 422 of 494
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jon357   
19 Jun 2016
Study / Studying in Poznan for an Arab student. [25]

Plenty of foreign students who follow that particular religion too.

It's a few years since I lived in Poznan but there were certainly people thee attending the university who come from many places in the world from diverse backgrounds.
jon357   
19 Jun 2016
Study / Studying in Poznan for an Arab student. [25]

No, not at all. There are plenty of overseas students in Poznan, including one guy from Syria who I think is Catholic that posts here.

And plenty of people from all around the world, Africa, Asia, wherever who come to Poland to study. Poznan is a big city and much more broad-minded than an isolated rural community where people aren't used to seeing people who look different.
jon357   
18 Jun 2016
Travel / Photos from Poland [258]

Someone's made this garden just outside Wadowice.


  • image.jpeg
jon357   
18 Jun 2016
Life / Consumer Rights & Returns in Poland [22]

Hard to disagree with that.

One of many positive things about the EU is that consumer policies are likely to be standardised Europe-wide and well advertised.
jon357   
18 Jun 2016
Life / Consumer Rights & Returns in Poland [22]

He simply didn't like the mouse and wanted something better.

Maybe. I bought a mouse from media Saturn, hated it but didn't ask for a refund. If it had actually been broken, that is a different matter.

Polski Canuck from his user name probably comes from somewhere that has a very different retail environment.

Personally, if I buy something expensive, I always look at product reviews first however the shop who sold him it may well have lost a valuable lifelong customer all for the sake of a 5 or 10 zl profit on one sale.

The tax office here don't help - in Poland the shop can't easily write-off returned products as a tax loss and that doesn't help the retail environment. Same with broken glasses in bars - they don't get an annual allowance for that; it's as if the tax office expect the glasses to last forever.
jon357   
18 Jun 2016
Life / Consumer Rights & Returns in Poland [22]

If they sell something that is faulty, of course they should return his money. Unfortunately the law in Poland favours the corporate over the individual here.

So they've kept a small profit margin on the unsatisfactory product they sold him. And probably lost a potential regular customer.
jon357   
17 Jun 2016
Feedback / Polish forums members - please stop being agressive and dishonest. What a waste of potential. [48]

Welcome to the world of bureaucracy and government intrigue.

Arguing is almost the national sport here in Poland. That struck me right at the start, 20 years ago and that view hasn't changed.

One very sad thing is that when someone from India/Pakistan etc posts a question about moving to Poland, meeting a partner etc, the responses are sometimes deeply unpleasant and that does not reflect the reality of the country.
jon357   
16 Jun 2016
UK, Ireland / Why are Polish people, especially women, so disrespectful toward the English? [442]

It's the internet. It's like that. Any open forum, any facebook page, wherever. Even closed support groups have to be moderated. You'll notice that the original post was just a non-specific moan by some guest poster who commented once and never returned (under that name, anyway...) - sounds like a Brexiter or Ukipper or even worse today, a Britain Firster - and then people share their experiences both good and bad.

Yes, there are some people here in Poland who are disrespectful towards the English (odd the OP says English not British - perhaps he's forgotten Scotland, Wales and NI) and yes, those of us who live here have a right to discuss that, just as others have the right to say the opposite.

In the past 20 years here in Poland I've heard some people say pretty awful things about Britain, a country which few have visited but all have seen in film and TV. Some sort of inferiority complex possibly.
jon357   
16 Jun 2016
UK, Ireland / Why are Polish people, especially women, so disrespectful toward the English? [442]

Yes. He's actually from Adwick-le-street, just outside town. Not many Poles there, but plenty down the road in Bentley and I'm always amazed when I visit the actual town centre how many Poles I see and hear. Certainly hasn't done any bad there and as far as I know relations are very good. None of the disrespect suggested in the thread title.
jon357   
16 Jun 2016
UK, Ireland / Why are Polish people, especially women, so disrespectful toward the English? [442]

Do you know who said these words?

An unpleasant man (incredibly popular in Poland - his books sell like hot cakes here) from my home town, as provincial as it gets. But not quite as bad as that. Actually an OK town. Thousands of Poles have made it their home since 2004 - a notably large Polish migrant community, even by the standards of that region and everyone gets on well without trouble.
jon357   
16 Jun 2016
Life / Consumer Rights & Returns in Poland [22]

I guess I was a bit naïve thinking I would have the same consumer rights and return policies that are prevalent in Canada

Pretty well. Polish consumer protection laws are poor quality and there are various get-out clauses that allow shops to evade responsibility for selling products that are fit for purpose. Basically the old system where many larger shops were state owned (and believe it or not legally considered just to be distributors for manufacturers' products!!!) is still echoed here in the law and of course advantageous to unscrupulous retailers. It really is a case of caveat emptor lex here.
jon357   
13 Jun 2016
Law / Polish Visa Refused, Going To Make Appeal, What should I do ? [81]

i have been to Taiwan, Hong Hong, Malaysia, Turkey and recently japan, do you guys think it will help and increases my chances of getting schengen visa..

It might, since you have demonstrated that you have visited other countries and returned on time etc.

You are from Pakistan. Period!

My friends from Islamabad who visited Poland and other parts of Schengen last year got their visa OK - it should be said that they both have good jobs and a record of having had tourist/work visas and sticking to their terms.

It should be said that the husband is the son of a currently serving General and this may have helped.
jon357   
13 Jun 2016
Love / Woman 28 single, too late for a relationship with a Polish man? [67]

Again, women age like milk.

Depends on the person - a lot of men age badly.

At 28, a woman doesn't have that many choices.

The world is her oyster at that very young age.

Men over her age want to date younger women

Really? Most are looking to settle down and some 19 year old kid is often a very bad choice.

Her biological clock is ticking.

Not at 28 it isn't.

She doesn't look as good as she did when she was 18 or 20.

And nor does anyone, male or female

28 is very young indeed.

Give it 20 years and those single 28 year old women will probably look rather appealing to you ;)

Given his attitudes to women as seen in this thread (and the racist stuff in other threads) I'd suggest any woman would look appealing to him however the only ones who are likely to go near him have very low self-esteem indeed.
jon357   
12 Jun 2016
Love / Woman 28 single, too late for a relationship with a Polish man? [67]

Now that women have more freedoms, they are also more miserable.

I suspect they were a lot more likely to be miserable before. And yes, a 28 year-old used to be on the shelf a bit years ago, though in Poland, not so much so then or now. There have always been expectations, but there are plenty of single people in that age-group here in Poland who are very marriagable (or datable).
jon357   
10 Jun 2016
Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [676]

let's say, ordinary looking men from 'the West' find it easy to get an attractive Polish girl

I've seen that in Poland, however not much at all compared to some other places and in far more cases a crusty old Polish guy of deeply unpreposessing physical appearance, offensive personal habits and distasteful outlook on life but a flashy car and the suggestion of large amounts of assets is a magnet to a certain type of pretty young woman (or sometimes pretty young man) who wouldn't otherwise look at him if he were poorer.

The poster who put his picture up just looks like a typical American of his age group - not especially like a potato, though there thousands here in Poland who do look exactly like a giant spud.
jon357   
9 Jun 2016
Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [676]

This is not a clear indication of Russian ancestry as having ancestry from Ruthenia and perhaps even Belorussian

Plus a hundred other ancestries, Buryat, Permian, Ostyak, Karelian, Tatar etc - all are Russian ancestry, all have contributd to the gene pool there.
jon357   
9 Jun 2016
Law / Uber in Poland - illegal [28]

Uber is a racket

No, it's just a (better than average) taxi service.

the entire business model of Uber is turn de facto employees into "independent contractors".

Here in Europe, most, almost all, taxi drivers work that way.
jon357   
3 Jun 2016
News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Like maybe the right to copulate with pets or livestock?

Have PiS suggested that? I know they're largely rural, however that's nutty even for them.

Time and time again, we see that PiS = PZPRbis.

Sadly yes, and the new 'Macierewicz Militia' sounds downright disturbing. Some sort of Territorial Army makes sense - it works well enough in the UK however here I suspect that the result will be different as will the profile of largely unemployed young men who he wants to recruit.
jon357   
3 Jun 2016
News / Mieszkania Plus programme - PiS fulfills yet another campaign promise [50]

They've made it clear that the programme is budget-neutral, meaning that the plan is to mortgage the future rent payments to pay for the building of the apartments.

Sounds like a Ponzi scheme and ultimately this looks like another mess; if it starts at all...
jon357   
2 Jun 2016
News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

The pendulum swings and always has from one extreme to the other

No it doesnt.

This is happening all over -- across Europe and in the USA.

Likewise.

In the end, moderation always triumphs and yes, the advance of progressive causes is unstoppable.
jon357   
2 Jun 2016
Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

right so I'm wrong to dismiss banks as a possible option ?

If you have the right credit card (thisismoney.co.uk have a comparison tool) for using abroad and you don't happen to have a wad of banknotes from your home country that you want to cash just use the ATM.

If you do have a wad of banknotes to change, check the rate at the bank (most larger ones display it prominently inside) and decide if the few percentage decimal points of difference between the kantor is worth the time going there. If you don't speak Polish well enough, any phrasebook will tell you what to say.

Personally I don't tend to trek into town for kantors however the ATM here gives a very good exchange rate in my credit card which I just pay off online.

You could also try WorldFirst.com which I use for larger amounts (I get paid in dollars and convert to pounds), they do instant exchanges so the money is in your account rit away and their rates are excellent. There are several other such services but from experience I can say that one's good.
jon357   
2 Jun 2016
News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

It's all about the old outgoing elite facing off the new one

The 'elite' are going nowhere fast and there is no 'new elite'. The people you would like to pretend are 'elite' are just here-today-gone-tomorrow extremist politicians, populist ones and reactionary ones in a tradition that always loses in the end.
jon357   
2 Jun 2016
News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Interesting to see that the lovers of PIS plan to do away with the requirement for their man to win 50% in the second round

Very disturbing as are all their attacks on democracy and on Poland however we can't of course guess at this stage who of the obvious (or less obvious) candidates will replace the dud Duda in 2020; certainly the field won't be as wide as in PiS' silly poll.